Micah Zimmerman, The Motley Fool
5 min read
There is a certain kind of investor who checks their portfolio every morning, and this article is not for them. I’m (truthfully) one of those people, and I know how easy it is to turn constant checking into constant stress.
These five stocks are for the person who wants to buy a handful of good businesses, let the dividends pile up, and not think about it again for years. The best stocks for that job are companies in the middle of doing something right now: opening a new restaurant brand, absorbing an acquisition, building out a service customers cannot easily leave. Those moves will matter far more in 2031 than they do today. The five consumer names below each have a specific project underway that a patient investor can simply let run. Put $1,000 in each, forget about it, and come back in five years.
Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a “Double Down” signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same “Total Conviction” signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue »
1. Williams-Sonoma
Williams-Sonoma (NYSE: WSM) raised its quarterly dividend 15% in March to $0.76 per share, and the business behind it is doing the rare thing of growing through a frozen housing market. In the quarter ended Aug. 2, every one of its brands, from Pottery Barn to West Elm to the namesake kitchen stores, posted higher comparable sales, and the company raised its full-year outlook.Management attributes the growth to taking share from competitors and to its business-to-business arm that furnishes hotels and offices. With $1 billion in cash and almost no stores being added, this is a company compounding on execution rather than expansion.
2. Texas Roadhouse
Texas Roadhouse (NASDAQ: TXRH) pays $0.75 a quarter and planned to open roughly 35 company-owned restaurants in 2026 across three brands: the flagship steakhouse, Bubba’s 33, and Jaggers, its fast-casual chicken concept. That third brand is what makes this a five-year hold to me. Jaggers is still small, which means the company has a growth engine that most of the market is not pricing in yet, funded by one of the most reliable casual-dining businesses in the country. Texas Roadhouse has roughly 700 steakhouses but only a few dozen Jaggers, so if the chicken concept proves it can scale, it adds a second decade of unit growth.
3. Tractor Supply
Tractor Supply (NASDAQ: TSCO) operates 2,463 stores plus 209 Petsense locations, and its dividend is $0.24 a quarter after a stock split. What makes it a 2031 story is the way it has been building out services around the animals its customers own. It now includes Allivet, an online pet pharmacy, and VIP Petcare, the largest mobile veterinary provider in the U.S., in its family of brands. A retailer that sells you the dog food, fills the prescription, and gives the shots is hard to shop around.
